Kerry stayed out of the NH fray today, the last day before the primary and opted instead to visit a waste-to-energy prototype plant in New Bedford, MA.. Kerry, who is running for re-election in the Senate, made it clear when asked why he wasn’t in NH, that he hasn’t “made a decision yet.”

“Having been through it,” he said, “it’s an interesting experience to watch it. And I miss the discussion of the issues.”

Yet, he said, “I had a vision in ‘04 which I’m glad to say we still talk about: energy independence, health care, and restoring America’s reputation in the world.

“These are all things I put forward. And I hope we’re going to wind up with a candidate who can carry them out,” he said.

Kerry was joined in New Bedford by Mayor Scott W. Lang, who “once worked for the Democratic National Committee, and who was likewise unwilling to endorse anyone in the Democratic race, although he said he discussed the issue with Sen. Kerry earlier in the morning.”

Mr. Lang noted Sen. Obama’s surge in popularity, and said that at the very least, “we’ve got to make sure that the person we’re nominating is electable. And the next three weeks will determine who is electable.”

As a long time Kerry supporter, I’m not at all surprised to see him staying out of the fray in NH today, and actually I’m glad he is. It’s good to see he’s biding his time and watching what all of the candidates are about, as he says in the video above. His endorsement will carry quite a bit of weight in my opinion and I think the primary is seriously messed up at this point.

NH just may play out to be a surprise to everyone, regardless of the predictions. If that is the case, we may get to Mega Tuesday with more riding on the line. Then an endorsement from Kerry might have more impact. It’s incredibly ugly out there right now and the notion that Clinton will be out after tomorrow, which is being pushed heavily by some is ridiculous.

The bottomline those thinking a Kerry endorsement may be on the way, is hold on… because as I noted here last night, Kerry’s holding out for now and my hunch is if he does endorse anyone it will be closer to Mega Tuesday.

Senator Kerry would have made an excellent president. However, due to a poorly run campaign he won’t get the chance. He tried to run a dignified campaign. This, however, never works when you are running against the House of Bush. He was entirely too slow in responding to the GOP’s unfounded personal attacks. He allowed them to take his legitimate status as a war hero be corrupted into a traitor. His inability and/or slowness in responding to gutter attacks caused his demise.
It would seem that his backbone has not grown over the past four years. “It’s an interesting experience to watch” is a total cop out. In 2004 he allowed himself to be “swiftboated” by watching from the sidelines. My regard for the Senator is still high. It’s unfortunate, however, that he still prefers to simply watch things unfold from the sidelines, rather than being a bell weather for change. Buzz

I don’t understand the criticism of him being silent. He may not be a presidential candidate anymore, but just like Uncle Ted, he is still a MA senator representing his constituents. I think he just doesn’t want to do what Gore did (I don’t blame him for being silent either) blow his endorsement before the votes are in and counted.

And another thing, I find it sad that people still repeat the media lies that he was too slow to respond to the Swift Boat Liars. He responded them during a speech at a Firefighters Convention, which the media refuse to cover, but chose to air the lies instead. I don’t understand why they aren’t being held accountable. The campaign gave the media all they needed. Kerry was out there all by himself trying to fight the lies, I don’t remember seeing big name Dems out there in his defense.

And like it or not, the same thing will happen to the 08 nominee if Dems do not learn how to handle the message and stick to the points and spread the truth, refute the lies.

And for all the flaws his campaign had, he still got more votes than any other presidential candidate in history.

If anyone wants my vote, then they better show Gore and Kerry some respect. There is a smart way to promote this field without tearing the past two nominees and/or their campaigns down. It’s tacky and GOP-like.

I think it’s tough call for JK to make an endorsement to be honest. He has said more than once that he was watching the candidates and looking to see who comes closest to his stance on the issues. That is what is important to him. I think his heart would like to go in one direction and his gut may be telling him to go in another. As I said in the other thread about Clinton winning last night, we have one candidate who has experience and one who has idealism. Kerry had both.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with him not endorsing a candidate when we have two strong candidates who will both do good things for our country.

I think I have said this before… I believe JK would want his supporters to support the candidate they prefer at this time and not have their decision be at all about him. It’s about now – not the past.

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